England, chasing 227 to win a home Ashes series 4-0 for the first time, were 21 runs short of their target when bad light at the Oval forced the players off four overs early – meaning the fifth and final Test ended as a draw at the Oval on Sunday (August 25).
Michael Clarke, Australia:
” Look, that’s the way I would like to see cricket played and I would certainly like to see the Australian team playing in that type of manner. I think we had nothing to lose – obviously 3-0 down and to me, even if we weren’t 3-0 down, you have got to try and do everything you can to win the Test match. There is obviously the risk of losing and that was there today as well but, yeah, I think it was what we try and do.”
Alastair Cook, England captain
“Yeah, I think even at the beginning of the series you speak to a few guys about it. They give you advice – they will be mentally tough. But until you go through it as a player, as a captain, you don’t quite realise how intense it is, to be honest with you. So look, it has been an intense time, But also a very proud time for me. You know, we have had some real tough moments as a side. But, you know, the character we have shown throughout the series, when runs needed to be scored, they were scored, when wickets needed to be taken. I think that is the hallmark of a good side. But we are proving to be incredibly tough to beat, you know, even when the opposition get 500 in the first innings. We can force our way back into a game. Yes, it took a long time but we knew had to score the runs to get back into the game. And I think that comes with a lot of experience and a lot of class for those.”
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